U.s. Judge Stays Out Of Custody Battle

September 03, 1998|By KAREN GUZMAN; Courant Staff Writer

A federal judge in Atlanta has denied a Connecticut man's request to order an Atlanta woman to stop hiding his ex-wife and 4-year-old son.

In a ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Willis B. Hunt said that granting Jeffrey Rubenstein's request for a temporary restraining order against Faye Yager would involve the federal court in a child custody matter that instead belongs in state court.

Granting the order ``would require the court to make at least an implicit determination of who deserves custody of Randy, which, absent truly extraordinary circumstances, the court cannot and should not do,'' Hunt wrote in his ruling.

Rubenstein, of Waterford, had an emergency hearing before Hunt last month seeking a temporary restraining order forbidding Yager and her husband from continuing to hide his son, Randy Rubenstein, through her organization, Children of the Underground.

Rubenstein learned that his ex- wife, Bonnie, and Randy were underground after seeing published photographs and television footage of the two in news stories.

Bonnie fled with Randy last year, claiming that Rubenstein had sexually abused the boy. Yager accepted the two into her international underground network. Jeffrey Rubenstein, who was awarded sole custody of Randy after Bonnie fled with the boy, has denied the abuse claims.

On July 24, Rubenstein filed a $90 million lawsuit against Yager, her husband and the organization, claiming Randy was being illegally hidden. He then requested the emergency hearing for the temporary restraining order.

Boardsen said that Rubenstein, although disappointed, plans to pursue the lawsuit seeking damages.

``Obviously, Mr. Rubenstein sought injunctive relief because of his overriding desire to have his son returned immediately,'' Boardsen said in a prepared statement. ``When a child is abducted, not only is the future that the father envisions for the child gone but so is the father's very dream of his own future with and through the abducted child.''

Boardsen pointed out that the court, in its ruling, did not condone Yager's alleged behavior.

``We are relieved and extremely pleased,'' said Brian Spears, Yager's attorney. Spears has already submitted a motion to have Rubenstein's lawsuit dismissed. ``The court's reasoning for denying a temporary restraining order is, I think, very telling for how the court will handle our pending motion to dismiss the entire lawsuit.''